Private Clean Up Crew

[Inara Basai]

Inara held out her hands and received a white hazmat suit, complete with rubber boots, heavy gloves, and a mask. She smiled her thanks, and then stepped to the side – making sure not to tread on the portion of the floor already decontaminated and marked off with yellow 'caution' tape.

Now that the rakghouls that had swarmed the lower levels of Taris had been contained, it was time to get down to the dirty work. In the wake of the battle, there was a rather messy aftermath. There was black ooze--one might assume it was blood--and limbs and decaying rakghoul corpses.

A lot of corpses.

The medic cringed, but remained steadfast in her promise to help. She'd volunteered to remain behind to assist with clean up, decontamination, and keeping everyone else up and running. It wasn't a very glamorous job, to be sure, but she had a hard time saying no. Inara nodded to an assortment of Rangers that went by, more people to help ensure that the perimeter was indeed secure.

In a make-shift changing booth, she removed her fatigues and placed them in the hazmat bag that had been provided. With that, she jumped into the white suit, stepped into the rubber boots, and donned her blue gloves. Stepping out, she disposed of her soiled clothes in the proper bin and looked around.

There were yellow tarps unfurled on the ground, a place to begin stacking the corpses – so that they could be dealt with. Inara walked over to the nearest one and gazed down in horror at the puddle of innards left on the ground. She was a medic, yes. Basic had prepared her, yes. But that didn't mean the sight of this unnatural mess didn't make her feel queasy – it did.

“Golly,” she whispered, exhaling.

Reaching up, she began to attempt tying back her wild curly hair – and put on her goggles. But the sight of a familiar face made her pause. “Oh, hi,” she said, holding her gloved hand up in a placid wave to Mathieu Brion – a member of the group she'd joined in battle, though she didn't know him at all beyond that brief interaction.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Hazmat suits and Jedi robes were not the same. It was something which had become abundantly obvious to the Morellian as he waited for one of the logistical staffers to bring him another one. A fair bit taller than average and equally well built, Mathieu occasionally experienced difficulties in making uniforms fit, and this was one of those instances. Still, Taris welcomed a range of different species and creatures and their equipment matched that reality. Soon, a second, more appropriately sized suit was handed to him. "Thank you" he said, nodding his head before heading for the changing booth.

His heavy armour and robes all laid in the hazmat bag already, making the process to equip the white clothing on top of his body glove a rather quick process. Once inside, he stepped back out into the open and let out a sigh. The duties of a Jedi were not only to be all heroic and protect those in need by fighting the bad guy. It was something which he had learned quickly, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Still, doing the work to improve the lives of those who had struggled so much was rewarding in its own way. And with that, the corners of his lips edged upwards.

Walking across the camp to his destination was disheartening to say the least. Mathieu had - much to his dismay - seen a fair amount of death and destruction during his days as a Mercenary. One might expect that a person's senses would eventually be dulled by the horrors that could be seen on a battlefield. That was never the case for Mathieu. A sense of sadness plagued him as his eyes swept across the life that had been. He knew that the Rakghouls were just crazed beasts and he did not feel as bad about killing them, but it was always painful to think of what they were before they transformed into those monstrosities.

Still, some comfort could, almost, always be found in a sad situation. In this case, he found the Medic whom he had fought along side with recently. Despite the fact that she also wore a white hazmat suit, it was not hard to recognise her. The short stature and wild curled hair was easy to recognise, even from a distance. "Hi" he replied with a warm voice - he was genuinely glad to see a somewhat familiar face. "I am glad we made it out alright. I take it you also volunteered to help out in the clean-up?" he asked. Mathieu waited for some sort of confirmation before continuing "I hope you don't mind if I tag along with ya? I'm new to the this end of the battle" he said, feeling a bit of shame for only having experience in the violent aspect of it. Seemingly recovering from the temporary low quickly, a slight smile formed on his lips "Just point at what needs doing and I'll be there"

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

As her companion spoke, the was met with the warmth in his tone. And Inara's expression immediately brightened. It was a nice contrast, finding someone kind and upbeat in these situations – usually, Inara looked to be that source. It was a task especially difficult at times, given the rather stony nature of some of her Ranger comrades. This was a very welcome change.

“Yup,” she gave him a nod, finding that she had to look skyward.

Even without the armor from before, the young man had a rather an imposing form. But to be fair, most people towered above her. And when he offered to join her, she smiled.

“Not at all,” she said, finally clasping her hair into a ponytail. “I'd like the company, actually.”

With her curls secure, she lifted the little hood over her head and placed the safety glasses over her eyes. Shorter than average, the hazmat suit pooled at her ankles, so she bent momentarily to shove the excess into her boots. Her hands, gloved as they were in blue, gave her front a quick pat as if making sure all supplies were ready and accounted for. It felt odd moving around without her vest and medical backpack, but there were clean sets sitting nearby, ready if needed.

“Alright then,” Inara said, putting her hands on her hips. “Guess we can tackle this mess right here. And don't worry, I'm pretty new to this, too – new to it all, really. This was... my first assignment,” she admitted, feeling a bit sheepish. “I just got outta basic training a week ago.” She only hoped it hadn't been too noticeable.

Motioning to a nearby corpse, she reached down and took hold of its wrists and tugged. It was pretty heavy, so she waited for assistance... and blinked.

“Oh, sorry! You know, I don't think I ever properly introduced myself, did I? My name's Inara Basai.”

Had she not been occupied with the dead rakghoul, she'd have reached out to shake his hand.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

She didn't mind. "Good to hear, me too" It was pleasant to have someone who was a bit more experienced in it than he was to tag along with, so they were off to a good start. The girl seemed to know what she was doing as she pointed to the corpse above which they hovered - but it was then that she admitted that she was fresh out of basic training. The Padawan was slightly taken aback "You sure could've fooled me" he said and continued speaking with a smile "Maybe we'll both stumble about for a while."

"Mathieu. Mathieu Brion. I'm a Padawan with the Jedi" he said, clearly rather proud. The Morellian looked down at her ankle, somewhat hesitantly after she had just held the remains of the Rakghoul in her hands. Naturally, they were both rather safe with the protection of the hazmat suits, but it was weird nonetheless. Still, he was going to get his hands dirty and with that, he shook her hand with a comfortable grip.

Bending down, he took hold of the corpse by the ankles. In truth, the Morellian was more than capable of carrying out the particular task on his own - but working together was much preferable. It ensured that they'd be able to go on for longer and it was also good in order to get a good sense of direction in the new environment. Pointing his head to the side where the yellow tarps were, he spoke "Thataway?" It made sense and so, he started backing towards it. In some sense, they both had to figure out what was what with neither of them being too experienced doing the clean up work from before.

It wouldn't be long before they had dumped the first corpse onto the tarp and while it was fully possible to talk whilst carrying it, it seemed a bit easier to do so when moving out to pick up another one - at least until they had got a bit more comfortable with it all. "I don't know if you were lucky or unlucky to have your first major encounter be with the Rakghouls. We had so many close calls." he said, looking over to a corpse in the distance. Mathieu let out a humming sound whilst considering it and finally spoke "I think fighting people, you know, sentients, is worse. Unless you can knock 'em out, it's a loss either way."

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

​

Inara hoped the hood of her hazmat suit hid the rosy-hue that was surely spreading across her face. Even the slightest hint of a compliment would turn her red-faced. But really, she was just good at following orders. That's how she'd gotten through the battle.

But she was relieved to hear that he was rather new, too. She wouldn't have to stumble alone. Glancing up, she repeated the name in her mind a couple of times – Mathieu Brion. And she gave his hand a squeeze and a shake.

“Yeah, I know,”she said, glancing down at the first corpse they'd dropped on the tarp. Of course, he looked pretty strong, well capable of hefting probably a few of these ghouls at once. Nevertheless, Inara was thankful for the help carrying all of this dead weight back and forth. “I never thought I'd see anything like... this. But maybe I was lucky.”

In an odd sort of way.

Moving on to the next rakghoul, she looked over at her new friend. “Have you... done much fighting here with the Jedi?” she asked, canting her head to the side slightly.

In truth, Inara understood very little about the mystical warriors called Jedi. Though, she was stationed on Kashyyyk, relatively close to Silver Rest, things were very different on the Ranger Base. Most of the other soldiers were not force-sensitive. And while the Rangers did respect the Jedi and the work they did, Inara sensed a very clear divide between the two. She'd often heard, 'the Jedi do things their way -- we have our way.' On a general level, she knew some of the Rangers were less bothered by battle and killing -- in a way, it was part of their duty, with restraint, of course. As a medic, she had different views -- softer views.

“Also...”she started, hesitantly. “What's a padawan?” had she said that right?

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

A chuckle escaped him. Lucky - it was the last way he expected someone to describe a Rakghoul encounter as. But then, he was the one who had built up for it. Shrugging lightly, he nodded in agreement "Yeah. It tears less on the conscience when they go down." he forced a smile before continuing the work.

An awkward expression spread across his face as she asked if he had done much fighting "Here?" he asked, pointing at the ground and continued before giving her a chance to answer "No, no, this is my first time on Taris." Soon, the Padawan's serious demeanour cracked up in a mischievous grin - of course she was not just referring to Taris. Mathieu leaned his head in towards her "I haven't done that much fighting with the Jedi, no. A few times here and there, but whenever a fight can be avoided, that's a win in itself." it was a boring answer, but it was the truth.

The corpses still had to be dealt with. He picked one up under his arm and threw a glance at Inara. If she took its wrists, he would take hold of its ankles with his free hand, otherwise, he would clasp it under his arm before starting to head back to the yellow tarp. The Morellian had been silent for a while before finally admitting "I used to do mercenary work." it was a chapter in his life which he would rather leave behind - for despite having done his best to do what was good and right, the nature of his work sometimes made that impossible. "I have a lot to make up for" he said before letting his gaze fall, only for him to peer up again "What about you then? Any significant events that made you join up with the rangers?"

She was certainly good at brightening his mood a bit. While he was not too enthusiastic about talking about his Mercenary days, the Jedi was a topic which he would gladly cover. "Padawans! Ummm, we're like, Jedi trainees" he spoke with an almost comedic tone whilst still staying as true to the concept as possible. "You know, the Knights and Masters are the ones who you read about in the news articles, saving children, fighting Sith and all that. We? We try to learn from them."

For someone who had idolised the Jedi as a child, it almost felt a little weird for Mathieu as he explained what a Padawan was. To him, it was all too obvious. But then, not everyone had the same fascinations as himself. "So?" he looked expectantly at her with curious eyes "What do you guys say about us? I think this must be the first time I speak to one of you for real."

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

Inara blinked when Mathieu answered her question, but her smile was quick to return when she caught sight of his grin. Following his glance to the next corpse, she reached down to grasp its wrist in her gloved hands – and she was very thankful for the gloves indeed. As they moved back towards the tarp to drop of their current load, she glanced sidelong at Mathieu as he mentioned he'd once been a mercenary.

It didn't strike her as odd, some of her Ranger fellows had turned soldier much in the same way Mathieu had turned Jedi. It was admirable; making amends this way.

“Oh, me?” she asked, even though it was rather obvious. “Well, I wanted to be a doctor when I was a little girl,” she started, a faraway smile on her face. “But I didn't quite have the marks in school.” And the cost of medical school had also been a major factor. “I enlisted because I want to help people. The Rangers are out there keeping people safe – and I get to keep them safe.”

As Mathieu explained the role of a padawan to her, she listened closely. So, it seemed like the Rangers and the Jedi did have somethings in common – namely, their role as defenders and protectors. But when he posed her another question, she chuckled softly.

“Well,” she started, letting go of the rakghoul's wrists and leaving it behind on the tarp. “Some of the guys say that the Jedi are goodie-goodies and won't get their robes dirty,” Inara said with a bit of a sheepish grin. It felt odd to be saying it to the face of an actual Jedi.

“But many of the other soldiers are like me – we've never interacted with Jedi.” She was quiet for a moment as she lifted a few Rakghoul limbs, a small load she could tote by herself. “I don't know,” she shrugged, lifting her chin slightly and eyeing him, like she was sizing him up. “You seem alright to me.”

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

She spoke of why she became a medic with the rangers. It was admirable how she had been fueled by ideals and a will to protect people. While Mathieu could probably have taken a similar path, it would have required him to stay on Morellia and his lust for adventure and doing good put him on another track. The life of a Mercenary was far from what he had envisioned "I wish I had done the same" he said but immediately added "I still want to be a Jedi, of course, but starting where you are instead of working for some good-for-nothing bully would've been better."

It was amusing to hear of what some of the rangers thought of the Jedi and the Padawan's smile matched that though. With a sense of sarcasm, he looked down at his gloves, then to the pile of bodies and body parts and then back to Inara. Obviously, he had not taken it the wrong way - his smile was bright as he silently made his point. And judging from what the girl said after, he was fairly certain that she didn't agree with them fully. As soon as Mathieu was standing up straight again after having picked up the two corpses, he looked down at her "We're a..." he said but cut himself short as she let out the short 'I don't know' The former Mercenary was surprised at first but soon understood that she most likely said it in jest.

"I'll take 'alright,' as long as you were referring to us and not these guys" he said, giving the corpses a light jiggle before moving on. Upon getting closer to the tarp, he looked over to his side, eyeing her "You guys haven't failed to impress so far" The compliment came along with a small grunt as he dumped the corpses on the tarp. It was satisfying to see the good progress they were making but his mind soon returned to her as he jestfully felled the comment "You seem shorter than expected though" His warm smile was mixed with a teasing glint in his eye as he took a few quick steps to avoid potential retaliation. Mathieu laughed heartily and turned around, slowly backpedalling to look at her from a few meters away "I kid, I kid! You're great. Especially the medics"

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

Inara couldn't help but laugh when Mathieu made it apparent he was indeed a Jedi that would get his 'robes' dirty. Point well taken, she thought, with a wide smile to match his.

It was rather nice having someone to joke around with, and she was glad that the Jedi Padawan could take it. After all, such jesting was pretty normal within the ranger ranks – in fact, their jokes were pretty brutal. Then, Inara bent down to lift another couple of stray limbs – but looked up when Mathieu paid her a compliment.

“Oh, I, uh,” she stammered.

Her face was growing red again, but then he threw in a light-hearted comment about her height. Inara straightened up – still over a foot shorter than her Jedi companion – and put her hands on her hips. She watched with a chuckle as he backpedaled.

“Hey,” she said, her face still pretty rosy. “Everyone makes fun of me for being short, not fair!”

The area they were working on was looking pretty good – at least there were less corpses littering the ground now. And when the last rakghoul in their immediate area was on the yellow tarp, a man dressed in a very heavy closed-hazmat suit gestured for them to step to the side as he continued with decontaminating that spot.

Moving out of the way, Inara glanced around – waiting for more instructions, but it seemed everyone was quite busy at the moment. Standing next to Mathieu, she felt even shorter than usual, and tried to glance sidelong at him.

“So,” she started, her tone a little more serious than before. “I actually learned that I am force-sensitive – they told me when I first arrived on Kashyyyk for training.” Inara hadn't actually told anyone yet, not even her family. “But... I don't really even know what to do with that information.”

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

His hearty laugh would end a little after her protest as he jestfully made amends "I kid, I kid! You're great. Especially the medics" his words came along with a smile as he kept backpedaling with a slowing pace to let her catch up. The padawan was unsure of if her stature really gave her a hard time or if she was still enjoying the banter between friends. In any case, he wanted to be sure "Greatness comes from what a person does, not how tall they are" he said and held back a bit of laughter as he indicated that he had a fair amount of shortcomings himself "Trust me, I know."

After the last couple corpses were dealt with, he stood back next to her as some guy with a much cooler hazmat suit than theirs took over and started to process what they had dumped on the tarp. Mathieu threw another glance over the area they had just been cleaning, making sure that no parts were left behind - even reaching out with the force to see if he could sense anything. Fortunately, it seemed like they had done a thorough job.

It was her turn to drop the 'So'. He looked down at her curiously and was not a little surprised to hear what she had to say. Of course, a trained force sensitive could sense when another was nearby - but with his skills still so unrefined, it was not something Mathieu had spent too many thoughts on. A bright smile spread across his face "That's great!" to him, it could only mean one thing "Are you kidding?" he asked, obviously rather excited "Maybe you could become a Jedi - maybe train yourself in healing?" Ideas coursed through his mind as he spoke to her with enthusiasm.

They would have some time to talk, but eventually, a person in a white hazmat suit, just like theirs, and a clipboard appeared. "Good job, you guys. We've got it from here. I think we're looking into opening up a floor in that apartment building if you're interested in helping out. But I'm iffy on the details." Mathieu nodded "Thanks for letting us know" he said before looking back at Inara "So, what do you think about exploring that place? I've still got plenty of time before I have to start heading back home."

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

Inara blinked a couple times, but smiled when Mathieu responded with such enthusiasm. And his bright mood lifted her spirits to match. She could train to become a Jedi? Now that she was an active member of the rangers, the thought hadn't occurred. And as she opened her mouth to respond, a man with a clipboard approached.

She listened and let her gaze shift down the way, towards the building he indicated. Then, turning to Mathieu as he spoke, Inara nodded a couple of times. “Yeah, sure – I've got time, too.”

The ranger medic carefully peeled off the blue gloves and disposed of them in the proper receptacle, and then picked up a medical backpack, vest, and her weapons – just in case. Inara placed the pack on her back and adjusted the shoulder straps until they were comfortable.

“Alright, let's go.”

It was eerie. The way towards the building was dark and empty, streets void of life. Many people had already evacuated, but of course, where was still a chance that some remained behind. They'd need to make a quick check, or Inara thought that'd probably be the best course of action.

“I guess we can just do a quick sweep?” she asked, glancing up to Mathieu. The man in the clipboard was now nowhere to be seen, and he'd indicated that details were sketchy at best. Hands, clad in a set of new gloves, gave her chest a pat – where there were still some vials of serum at the ready. And as they walked, their footsteps echoing, she spoke again.

“I could really train to... heal people?” Inara's eyes were wide and curious. “Do you know how? Is it... difficult?”

Really, she had no idea how this... force stuff worked.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

They were going to continue helping the Tarisians out. Mathieu was glad to have found someone to work with as finding people who wanted to help with the cleanup wasn't always easy. They were both relatively young and still had plenty to learn and experience and doing that together for a while was a pleasant idea.

"Lemme just go get a new suit or something" he said before rushing off to find another logistics officer who could help him find something new to wear. The current one was way too contaminated to bring into a new environment, seeing as how Mathieu had carried a few bodies by pinning them against his body under his arms. While he was not unfamiliar with only moving about in the body glove, it seemed like a rather risky move, considering the fact that he'd have to spend a fair amount of time in only underwear if that got contaminated too. Still, he did not waste much time and was back with her within just a few minutes - but now in a clean hazmat suit and all three of his weapons attached to his belt as they had been decontaminated by now.

He looked down at her. It was a good idea and he was feeling a bit uneasy about the situation which reinforced the thought. "Yeah, good call. If you have the force, I think you might wanna start following your gut instinct more. Often times, it may be a bit more than just a feeling." he spoke through experience as he had learned the same lesson rather recently.

Despite listening to her with interest, the former Mercenary still kept a keen eye on their surroundings as they made a sweep around the building. It was, indeed, rather eerie as the streets laid silent - but the barricaded doors were all marked by different signs warning whoever studied them of danger. Almost a bit distracted, he tore his gaze away from the barricades to look to Inara "Yeah! Me and my pal Caden were set upon by a gang of robbers once. Both of us got beat up pretty bad, they had knives and all. But the healers at the temple fixed us right up." he said, retelling the tale with a sense of excitement rather than defeat or regret. He went silent for a little but as his eyes rolled up whilst he pondered on her question "Well, I haven't learned how to heal more than a paper cut but I think it would be easier for someone who understands how our bodies work better. But yeah, if you ever have a bunch of paper cuts, I'm your guy"

Naturally, the lighthearted tone couldn't remain forever. They had a task to do and it had to be approached with utmost care - at least judging by what the signs on the barricades said. Mathieu stopped by one of the barricades that seemed to have the most simple construction. From the looks of it, whoever made it had parked a heavily damaged landspeeder by the front doors and poured whatever heavy items they could find on top of it, primarily loose items from a nearby construction site. "These guys must've been hit hard by the Rakghoul surge" he said whilst thinking of how to best deal with the situation.

Deciding that trying to turn it on was too risky as it might make way too much noise and might not even work in the end, Mathieu decided to resort to the force. Having studied with the Soller Navah, he had devoted a lot of his time to learning how to enhance his own capacities - and that was exactly what he would do at this instance. "Can you make sure we don't make too much noise?" he asked, looking up at the pile which didn't seem all too stable. If she agreed, he would move to one end of the vehicle and slowly start lifting it up. Moving sideways, he rotated the speeder so that it would no longer completely block the door before setting it down again. It was a straining task, but his already stellar physical condition and training in the field minimised how tiring the task was to him.

Hopefully, they managed to stay quite enough to not draw any attention to themselves.

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

“Often times, it may be a bit more than just a feeling.” ​

Mathieu's words echoed in her mind, and she took them to heart. For Inara, it was always difficult to place her trust in that little voice. But she nodded, silently vowing to do her best to follow that nudge of instinct – or what she believed to be purely instinct.

Despite the conversation, she, too, kept her head on a swivel – aware of their surroundings. Inara took a glance at the doors that had been barricaded and swallowed hard. Facing the hordes of rakghoul had been quite a harrowing task – and she was a trained soldier. That didn't change the way fear worked, of course, but she could not have imagined the terror these civilians must have endured. And in this moment, she was very thankful for the steady presence of Mathieu at her side.

“Wow,” she said in a hushed tone as he recounted his experience with healing. “That's pretty amazing.”

And a smile tugged her cheek, “I'll be sure to come see you if I get any paper cuts, then.” Inara's smile only remained for a moment or two longer, before they paused next to a barricade – one that looked like it'd been thrown up at the last minute. Her eyes roamed the rather odd assortment of items they'd used to block the way.

“Yeah,” she agreed, nodding to Mathieu.

Already her imagination was at work, picturing the swarm of ghastly creatures pouring against the barricade. Fortunately, the rakghouls didn't seem to have the brains left to work out obstacles such as this... it was the sheer number and strength of many that was worrisome.

Inara craned her neck slightly to see around the barricade, but it was no use – there was only darkness waiting for them down the corridor. When he asked her to move quietly, she gave him a another nod of affirmation. And she watched with wide-eyes as the Jedi lifted the speeder up and moved it – moved it like it was almost nothing. She stood back, impressed.

And when she shook herself back to the present, she moved around the speeder with little steps. A great sigh of relief escaped as she brushed by the barricade without so much as a sound. Until...

'clink.'

A piece of scrap metal tumbled out of the pile and onto the ground; the sound echoed around them.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

He froze.

The small sound produced by the little piece of metal fell down onto the ground. It was not a loud and violent noise but he heard it, Inara heard it - and judging by the echo, others might have heard it too. Mathieu drew his practice sword and the stun baton whilst throwing a watchful eye on the entrance. No Rakghouls were pouring out yet anyways. "We're good." he whispered before looking to her "Right?" his question confirmed that he wasn't too sure about it but to him, it seemed likely.

It was at that moment that it dawned on the former Mercenary that he had no real idea on how Inara fared in a fight. She was a trained medic and he had seen her in the heat of things earlier when they fought back the Rakghoul horde - but with the chaos that went on at the time, he was hardly in a position to make a good judgement on the matter. Crouching down by the entrance, he peered in to the dark corridors inside the building - it was dark but at least, he heard no growls or frantic scratching. Taking the opportunity, he turned to look at her "So, how much combat training did you medics receive?" It was an important question - for it would determine what kinds of priorities he could make if the situation got hairy.

Then a low growl could be heard, followed by another coming from the same direction inside the building. Mathieu peered in again and sure enough, two of the beasts were approaching the exit. They were moving slowly as they investigated where the sound might have come from. He looked back to the girl and held up two fingers whilst mouthing the same word silently.

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

Inara tensed, her shoulders tight and pulled up towards her ears. For a moment, she closed her eyes and cringed as the echo faded away. When she opened her eyes, Mathieu had his practice sword drawn. Her hand went to her blaster pistol, but hesitated when he asked about her training.

With Mathieu crouching, she could look him in the eyes – and she did so. “Some,” she said, her voice still hushed. “I can use a blaster and a rifle well enough,” Inara said, drawing her the blaster and holding it ready. “I learned hand-to hand combat... but I'm not great at it.”

Her eyes darted away.

A swell of nerves made her chest tight. She'd functioned well as part of a team, providing back-up as needed to support the others. But she was growing nervous, would she be able to do the same for Mathieu? Being in a duo was far more responsibility – to keep your partner safe. Inara knew what she had to do.

She drew a breath, and held it it when she heard the growling. And she glanced to the side at Mathieu as he indicated two targets. Giving him a small nod, she steeled her nerves as best she could and leveled her weapon. When the creatures turned, spotting her – she fired off two rounds, hitting one in the shoulder and the grazing the other's side. It was enough to give the ghouls some pause, but they'd soon attack.

If anything, her blaster bolts had only made them angry.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

He nodded. Not a specialist but still useful. It was probably better than what he could have expected from any other person who stayed behind for the cleanup operations.

It was not long after that when the first bolts were fired. The shots caused even more sound than the dropping of the metal piece, but so did the hissing of the Rakghouls. If more of the beasts were hiding in the corridors or any of the rooms with broken down doors - this would probably be when they appeared. Mathieu's eyes tracked the shots as they flew past him and hit the beasts. Whether it was intentional or not, Inara's shot seemed to have landed perfectly - both seemed rather agitated but while the one who had been grazed by the side rushed on ahead, the other moved at a much slower pace. Their sprint required the use of all four limbs whilst this one could only properly use three.

Seeing as the two came in at a trickle, the former Mercenary approached the situation in the safest way possible. First making a slow sweep with his stun baton which would inevitably be caught in the beast's mouth and then a hard slash with the blade. Once it was dead, he fluidly transitioned to attack the next one by thrusting the practice sword toward it as a distraction before finishing it off by bashing the stun baton against it. The way in which he thought had to be more brutal than if he had a lightsabre at hand but after their tremendous effort earlier in the sewers, he was quite used to it by now.

"Good job! There are bound to be more in there though, let's be careful" as soon as he finished the sentence, a plethora of growls could be heard from inside. "Blast it" he whispered whilst bracing for an incoming mass of fiends. A few heads could be seen peeking up - they had either slumbered on the floor and was hidden in the darkness, or they came out from apartments with destroyed doors. But almost as suddenly as they emerged, their attention was also drawn away. Daft banging came from inside the corridor, causing most of the rakghouls to look toward its source. I faint voice could be heard coming from inside "Hello? Anyone out there? Save me! Help! I'll distract them! Heeeeeeey, you there, you Sithspawn, come here! Heeeeey!!"

The former Mercenary looked to his friend "We've got to save them!" his voice was once again a whisper as their attention might just as easily return to the two fleshy targets as it was drawn to the closed door. The Rakghouls soon started clawing at the door and even tackled it, causing it to start budging and the banging from inside to soften and loose conviction. "Got any ideas on how we can take out as many of them as possible before they notice us?" he whispered, seeing if Inara had any ideas on what to do.

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

Inara stood ready as Mathieu moved to strike the two injured rakghouls. Her finger hovered over the trigger, tracking the movement of the enemies – as well as the movement of her ally. His combat skills would rival any ranger's. Heck, his moves may have even excelled.

She blew out a shaky breath, nodding. “You too,” she said in a hushed voice and offered a flicker of a smile. But her expression fell grim again at the sound of more growling. The shadows seemed to move, the dark beings were awake and alert to their presence now. Inara traded her blaster pistol for the rifle, if ever there was a time for a bigger gun--it was now. She'd have felt a bit better having some thermal dets or grenades... next time.

Before the rakghouls charged, something drew their attention... and Inara's, too.

Her head turned in the direction of a voice down the corridor, muffled behind a door. “Oh, no,” she in a breathless whisper. In any other situation, she would have thought this person was absolutely crazy. That wasn't the case, however, they were desperate for a way out. As Mathieu turned to her, she met his gaze and gave him a steady nod.

The medic's eyes flitted about, as if searching for a solution. And she huddled closer to her Jedi counterpart and put a hand on his forearm. “Can you... do that... thing?”

Inara made a pushing motion with an open palm, imitating the way Amani had used the Jedi power to blow their foes backwards. She only hoped it had come across that way to Mathieu, since she didn't know what to call such a thing. “Blow them into the door and the wall --”

She didn't want to risk saying anything more, lest she draw their attention too soon.

And so, she took on an active stance, knees slightly bent and pointed her blaster rifle down the corridor. Her heart felt like it was beating all the way up inside her throat, and she felt like she might gag. But this was no time to lose it. Inara lifted her brows at Mathieu, and then gave an almost imperceptible nod to signal she was ready when he was.

Her trigger finger was ready to shoot like there was no tomorrow...

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

They had been working well together so far and while he had not chatted with her extensively, Inara did seem to have a bright mind. It was probably why he trusted her with coming up with an idea on how to deal with as many of the monsters as possible before being discovered. Because in this instance, he did not have any good suggestions. The Morellian's eyes lingered on her hand as she put it on his forearm before finally snapping over to her palm as she illustrated what she meant.

Silence ensued, at least for a few moments. Before joining the Jedi, he had been training with the Soller Navah for a few months. It was an Order which firmly believed that using the force to affect the world around them was immoral and it was a philosophy which he had largely bought into. Still, her suggestion was good and he had attended the same aerokinesis class as Amani had. "Uhm" he finally made a sound - although this one was not very productive. In the end, he was well aware of the risks of fighting a Rakghoul straight on and if they did not do this with great care, the risk was that Inara or the person who was - rather bravely - keeping the monsters distracted would get injured and infected. "Yeah, sure"

Mathieu crouched down next to her and started concentrating. Soon a soft breeze would start blowing at the two rescuers. His eyes quickly shot over to her "Sorry" he whispered, making it rather obvious that he was still rather new at it. It soon dawned on the new Padawan that his peer had probably used a telekinetic blast rather than a strong wind but his efforts were not abandoned - he was committed now. Soon, a wide and hazy whirl started to form between them and the Rakghouls. This was far from an elegant effort - his skills were still not honed and possessed an unrefined and raw quality to them. Before long, the noise from it was picked up by their foes but it was too late. Continuing the effort, he then sent the strong whirl at them.

The effect would not be perfect for their situation as most of the targets were blown a few decimeters to the side as they were flung backwards into the door, making it hard for shots which had already been lined up to hit their mark. Still, most of them needed to recover for a few brief moments leaving them open for attack and once they started rushing towards the couple, it became evident that a few were injured. While it would have been a good opportunity for him to whip out his blaster and take a few of them out, Mathieu leaned down against the bench he was hiding behind whilst recovering from his efforts. Clearly, his command of the force was something which could be improved on.

This was Inara's show now. Still, after having recovered for a few moments, the Jedi Padawan passed by the cover and took a few steps, ready to hold back any beasts that managed to get close enough to pose a threat to them.

Inara Basai

 

[Inara Basai]

He sounded unsure, and Inara felt a pang of guilt; she hadn't meant to put him on the spot. As he crouched down, the ranger medic stood alert, ready to guard her Jedi companion as he worked his magic. And as a quiet lull settled between them, she thought she felt something – a soft breeze against her face. She matched his gaze for a moment and offered an encouraging smile as if to say, you got this.

Soon, there was an actual whirlwind between them and the rakghouls. As the snarling faces snapped in their direction, Inara fired. Red blaster bolts illuminated the corridor in bursts, fast and frantic. While the wind made it difficult to hit her intended targets, it did serve as a rather good distraction – throwing their enemy off balance. And there were some that did get knocked into the wall or door, which left them staggering slowly.

Inara was aware of Matheiu next to her, recovering. Thankful that there was enough cover for him to duck behind, she stepped forward to do her part. Finger working the trigger of the rifle, she lined up her shots and fired. Rakghouls went down – puddles of sickly black ooze began to pool on the floor around the bodies that twitched – injured or dying.

Many of her more hasty shots merely glanced their target, but the blaster bolts were unkind to their pale flesh. But between their efforts, they'd managed to thin the rakghouls. And after a few moments of charged fighting, Inara lined up her last shot – a single rakghoul.

Then, the door cracked open.

“No – don't!” Inara screamed, but it was too late.

The man peered out, likely checking to see if the way was clear. But the rakghoul suddenly launched itself forward, avoiding Inara's bolt. Holding her breath, Inara stood shaking, stunned.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

This was not the same endless stream of attackers which they had to deal with in the sewers before. Still, It was quite the challenge now - both because they were only two and because he had just spent a considerable amount of energy staggering them all. It was fortunate that Inara seemed to fire rather accurate shots managing to prevent many of the Rakghouls from even getting close. The few that did were often injured. Now, however, Mathieu didn't always go through with both the block and killing blow. Instead, he would focus on keeping their attention on him so that Inara could kill them from a range.

The Padawan swung his practice sword at the final fiend in his vicinity. It still seemed rather energetic and managed to avoid it but the attack was not over there. Soon after, the stun baton would be swung at it and instead of avoiding it, the Rakghoul bit down on it. With its head held relatively still, Mathieu did not have to wait long until it was hit by a bolt. Despite wanting to turn to thank her, he refrained from doing so. Someone was still in danger - that much, he could sense. Very soon, it became apparent who it was.

The monstrosity jumped at the Ithorian who opened the door. Mathieu's first instinct was, unlike many other Jedi, not to use the force to pull them apart. Instead, he enhanced his own speed - something which was not frowned upon by the Soller Navah - and with that, he dropped his melee weapons and pulled out his blaster pistol. Taking careful aim, the large Morellian then fired off two shots, one hitting the Rakghouls torso and the other its head. The aim which had been honed over his time as a mercenary had not been lost, it seemed. Bending down, he quickly grabbed and sheathed both his weapons before looking to Inara "It feels like they're still alive"

It was probably obvious to both of them what they had to do next. Pushing on ahead, the former Mercenary kept a watchful eye on the rooms which stood open and the doors which were still closed. He did his best to stay rather close to his friend, making it easier for them to look out for each other in case a bad surprise was still lingering somewhere. Once they arrived, they'd find the Ithorian whining silently - the right arm missed much of its flesh and had several bite marks where some still remained and the shirt was bloodied by the abdominal area with several claw marks. To Mathieu, the injuries looked fresh. "Can you save them?" he asked with a hint of desperation in his voice as he looked to Inara.

Inara Basai